Designed and developed in 12 months and weighing in at 160 grams, the Nike GS boot turned out to be the company’s lightest, fastest boot yet.

But according to Nike, low weight was merely a byproduct of rethinking boot design.

The PebaxFoam closed-cell TPE material, which is used for the thermoformed insole, is claimed to be three times lighter than conventional ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) foams with similar cushioning properties.

Zotefoams cites the advantage that PebaxFoam is expanded using nitrogen saturation foaming and without potentially harmful chemical blowing agents.

In the football boot application, Zotefoams claims a good energy return and excellent flex fatigue performance over a wide temperature range and down to -40°C.